Christmas gifts and stuff

Various toys and gifts were made for Christmas or Yule 2007. People seem to like this pentacle plate chess board, whale and ferris wheel with knitted dollies, the best.

Pentacle plate – Plain old pine cut in with oak salvaged from some flooring offcut (very hard to plane smooth) to make the chess board. Some very red pine that snapped up in the local DIY place (nothing since) mitred on to make a border that was then cut round with the band saw and spoke shaved to finish. The pentacle was marked on and then routed out with a V-cutter; it isn’t aligned properly but no one seems to mind. Finish is Danish oil and wax polish. This was used as a raffle prize and won by an idiot who won’t appreciate it, but that’s how it goes I suppose.

Ferris wheel – Made from embroidery hoops, dowel and ply off cuts in a pine frame. The weak spot is that the spars are just glued into the hoops; there’s insufficient timber to make a joint. Also I’m not happy about the wire chair hangers; it’s been suggested that the chair side template could be extended to make a hook. Painted with acrylic. My wife knitted the dolls. The wheel went to a colleague’s nephew: she hasn’t said anything so I’m afraid that it might not have gone down well.

Whale money box – Pine sections glued up to make a basic shape, which is then spoke shaved, carved and sanded into submission. The tail is on a dowel hinge giving access to the interior where your money is kept. Oil finish. My nephew has this and apparently loves putting his pocket money in it. Hurrah! a success. For any marine biologists or whale watchers out there, the tail should be horizontal not vertical like a fishes, but clearly the design would not work that way. I only notice this because I read Moby Dick by Herman Melville recently.